Implant systems comprising an implant having a tapered bore adapted to receive therein an abutment post or the like formed with a matching taper for retention of the post in the implant are known. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,738,623, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by this reference. It is also known to provide such posts, which are intended to be used as impression posts or temporary abutment posts, with a longitudinally extending slot in the end thereof in order to more easily remove the posts. Generally, such posts are made of titanium or titanium alloy due to their biocompatibility characteristics. However, titanium has a major limitation relating to the phenomenon of memory. It is possible for the diameter of the slotted post to either widen or narrow over time making the nature of the fit of the post in an abutment unpredictable. The property of memory can cause an abutment to become loose in clinical function and result in an unpredictable degree of retention.
There is a need to be able to replicate the position that an abutment would have in an implant in a system using abutment analogs, impression posts and the like made of the same or different materials which accurately and reliably correspond to the locked position of a permanent abutment in an intra-osseous implant. Among the factors which need to be dealt with in doing this is the existence of hydraulic pressure resisting the seating of a post as well as the need for having the post retain its seated position whether gravity is adding a force against seating or toward seating, as in the use in upper teeth versus lower teeth. There is also a need to be able to determine the appropriate height of an abutment which will provide an aesthetic submucosal prosthetic margin placement.